Tribes: Ascend Jetpack Jamboree

[Libuke]

Got around to downloading it and playing a little bit today and had a good time. Just played TDM to get the hang of skiing and stuff like that. Still need to figure out a key binding set up I like though I think.

[Dahzer the Cosmic Fool]

well i havent played this in a long while until a few days ago and damn im enjoying it again.... we definately need to get a big group together, and what voice are we using again vent? ts3?

[DoctorFinger]

Hi-Rez has announced an official launch date of April 12. All progress made in the beta will carry over to the full release.

[Reverant]

Right now, Tribes Ascend sits around an 8/10 for me. I'm having lots of fun, and I don't regret paying $50 for the upper tier pack, but there's some things that bug me.

1. CTF is too small. T2's 64-player CTF battles felt truly epic, but TA's player count is too low to reproduce that feel.
2. Vehicles are basically non-existent. You won't see them at all for the first several minutes of gameplay because it takes time to accumulate those credits, but those credits can be used for the more immediately satisfying and useful Tactical Strike. Plus, where the hell is the bomber?
3. I hate the flag in TDM. If you have an objective in the game, it's no longer TDM. It's hard to get a decent duel going if your opponent is prone to turning tail and chasing a flag.
4. Arena mode is really awesome, and it's where I've been spending most my time. But it only has two maps, and both are on flat structures. A real Tribes duel needs terrain to feel satisfying.
5. Health regenerates too fast. It's a very simple affair to jet away from a duel like a chicken and let your health accumulate again.

[diablopath]

I find more duels in CTF than I do anywhere else. Lots of times I'll be going through the midfield, and I'll shoot at anything I pass. If somebody else stops, I'll oblige them and we engage. It's really fun, never gets old.

For me, the player count is fine, because my Tribes experience was on the PS2, which until the end, was limited at 8v8 games. We made it work and it was a lot of fun.

I don't like the fact that vehicles cost so much, especially when they're so easily destroyed.

I don't like the fact we don't have a Bomber. Or a transport.

[LordDon]

Ok, this is just amazing:

[Lint of Death]

That's probably the greatest thing I will have seen all week, and Jon Stewart referenced Leeroy Jenkins on Wednesday.

[DoctorFinger]

New patch is out, including a new CTF map (Sunstar) and an revised map put back in rotation (Temple Ruins). Full patch notes under the tags.

Major Highlights

Sunstar, a new Capture the Flag map,has been added to the Quick Play rotation. Note that this map is not in its final design or art state.
Temple Ruins, a Capture the Flag map, has been added back to the Quick Play rotation after significant revisions. Note that this map is not in its final design or art state.
The European server region has been split into two regions in order for users to better select the region that gives them the best performance: Europe - London and Europe - Amsterdam.
The Asia server region has been split into two regions in order for users to better select the region that gives them the best performance: Asia - Japan and Asia - Singapore.
A variety of physics changes have been made in order to fix several issues impacting the fluidity of movement. This includes the elimination of several items that would cause deadstops and hitches, as well as a bug that would allow you to ski/jet along the boundary wall. Changes were also made in order to fix a few issues that would occur when traveling up steep hills. Additional improvements are planned for future releases.
A variety of improvements to server performance have been implemented. Additional improvements are planned for future patches.
Users may now choose to turn off unwanted HUD elements using the SETTINGS menu.
Reticules and HUD icons have undergone a significant polish pass.
User settings are now stored server-side. Settings may be reset as a result of this patch, but future patches should not have to reset bindings, etc.

Weapon/Balance Items

The Impact Nitron grenade will force you to drop the flag if it is used for self-damage.
Increased Heavy run speed by 20%.
Increased maximum reduction of weapon switch time on the Quick Draw perk from 20% to 50%.
Modified inheritance on the Grenade Launcher (now 50%).
The cost of the Tactical strike was increased to 4000 credits from 3500.

Additional Items

While in a match, the Class Select screen provides an indication of how many of your teammates are currently playing each class.
The new Purchase Vehicle menu now shows how many of each type of vehicles are currently spawned. The option to purchase a vehicle is locked when a max for that vehicle is reached in a match.
New Features are showcased when entering the menus.
Fixed an issue where throwing grenades or executing melee attacks in rapid succession could have the server and client get out of sync and animate strangely.
If a player picks up a dropped ammo pickup while their current weapon has zero ammo, the weapon automatically reloads the new ammo into the clip.
Made a variety of changes to weapon FX to help improve performance.
Fixed issues with Quick Draw perk where the client was not scaling the putdown/retrieve animations correctly and where the server was not switching fast enough (and leading to some dry fires).
A variety of UI-related bug fixes and improvements were implemented.
Fixed a bug that that would cause occassional “dry fires” of weapon.
Fixed a bug that would prevent you from adding or removing friends until you restarted the game client.
Fixed a bug in which the client would lock up under extended packet loss.
Fixed an issue in which information was not updating correctly on equipment page when scrolling perks.
Variety of cleanups and bug fixes to the badges system, including some adjustments to XP rewards from badges.
The end of match screen now highlights XP earned from badges during the match.
Fixed an issue where the Pathfinder’s Light Assault Rifle would fire repeatedly in a training map.
Fixed an issue where mine icons were disappearing.
Added new effects to the Shrike.
Fixed an issue where Supply Drops were able to be deployed on areas not intended.
Fixed an issue where melee attacks were causing double damage in certain situations.
Fixed an issue where melee sounds and effects were playing when no damage was done.
Fixed an issue where the Beowulf gunner was able to fire faster than intended.
Fixed an issue where firing and reloading a shotgun was allowing them to be fired faster than intended.
Fixed an issue where zoom was not being re-enabled when a player was zoomed and a reload occurred.
Fixed an issue where pushing someone to their death with Sonic Punch was not properly rewarding the kill.
Fixed an issue where players were able to either stand on or hop over the boundary wall in some maps.
Fixed an issue where the energy conduit in Nightabatic TDM did not extend all the way to the ground.
Fixed several collision issues in Outskirts TDM
Fixed an issue where friendly players and vehicles were taking damage from friendly turrets.
Fixed an issue where entering a vehicle while firing a weapon would continuously fire that weapon in training and roaming maps.
Fixed an issue where the fumbled flag post process effect wasn’t playing.
Fixed an issue where friends on the enemy team were having their marker drawn over exceptionally long distances.
Fixed an issue where player-owned deployables and projectiles were not being destroyed when becoming a spectator.
When in-scope with the Sniper Rifles using the Sentinel Class, the targeting reticule no longer color shifts to red when hovering over enemy players. Although, the reticule does continue to turn green when hovering over friendly players.
Fixed an issue where vehicle sounds would constantly play if you exited the Beowulf as the gunner while it was on fire.
Fixed an issue where there could be two flag carriers on the same team in Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag.
Fixed an issue where teams could be credited for multiple flag caps or a single flag cap if the flag carrier landed on the flag (either on-stand or out in the field) in a certain way with the Reach perk active.
Fixed an issue where the call-in confirmation sound would play but the call-in wouldn’t activate.

[Reverant]

Will they EVER add more Arena maps? My favorite mode needs some loving.

[Lint of Death]

Originally Posted by Reverant

Will they EVER add more Arena maps? My favorite mode needs some loving.

Haha, they've only had maybe 2 patches since Arena debuted? What they really need are friends list improvements to make Arena truly playable with friends. If I weren't sucked into ME3 and such right now I would definitely be playing a lot of Arena solo anyway.

[DoctorFinger]

The new map is small. I spawned practically right on top of the enemy base, and my base at the same time. It was very different from what I expect from Tribes maps. Not bad, but different.

[Spectre-7]

Originally Posted by DoctorFinger

The Impact Nitron grenade will force you to drop the flag if it is used for self-damage.

Awww... but it was so fun tossing an Impact Nitron at the flag a quarter second before grabbing it. Combined with the Potential Energy, it made me very difficult to chase even on a llama-grab.

In all seriousness, there are a lot of good changes listed in there. Looking forward to testing it out.

[Spectre-7]

If someone even half-coordinated uses it, the sniper rifle ruins this game.

[DoctorFinger]

New "Smoke & Dagger" update went live today. 3 new weapons and 2 new skins for the Infiltrator, plus a new arena map (Walled In).

The full changelog

Major Highlights

Three new weapons and two new skins have been added to the Infiltrator class. Watch the Cloak & Dagger Update Video for more.
A new Arena map, Walled In, has been added to the Quick Play rotation.
Several additional HUD features have been implemented, including:
Flag status (who is carrying the flag and timer until flag reset).
Friend Notifications when players come online/go offline.

Weapon/Balance Items

Three new weapons added for Infiltrator
Jackal: The Jackal fires up to three rounds that stick to any surface, and are remote triggered for detonation.
Throwing Knives: Throwing Knives deal impressive damage on a direct hit, and have a small splash damage radius.
Smoke Grenade: Instantly vanish without waiting the normal reveal time from taking damage or firing a weapon. In addition, remain in stealth for 2 seconds even if you take damage. Firing a weapon will still break stealth.
Adjusted visual style on Infiltrator's Prism Mines to be more in line with other mines and harder to detect at long range.
Fixed an issue where Shrike's were not taking damage from bullet projectiles at certain angles and locations.
Added improved proximity checking for deployables to prevent the Doombringer's force field from covering the flag when placed at certain angles and locations.
Pathfinder's Bolt Launcher projectile now detonates after 6 seconds of flight, reduced to match that of the Heavy Bolt Launcher and Spinfusor type weapons.
Direct-hit damage bonus reduced by roughly 4% on Pathfinder's Bolt launcher.
Increased knock-back from Pathfinder's Light Spinfusor by approx. 10% (now matches the Bolt Launcher).
Increased damage fall-off on Sentinel's BXT1 Sniper Rifle. Falloff range is 33% more aggressive, and the maximum falloff amount was increased 5%.
Improved the targeting of Call-In's when targeting terrain.

Additional Items

If a player jump/jets while already going faster in the Z axis than the jump would set, the jump no longer resets the Z-axis velocity. This fixes an issue in which a jump/jet could slow your momentum unintentionally.
Additional work has been done to eliminate some "deadstops" while skiing/jetting. Please report any remaining situations in which you stop movement suddenly and unexpectedly while skiing.
The current match is now hidden from the scoreboard when players are at the Team Selection screen. A future patch will hide additional information.
A variety of cleanups have been made to several maps.
Implemented a change intended to fix a situation in which hit/damage numbers would be delayed in appearing. Please report if you still see this issue..
Fixed an issue that would cause the flag to fall through the world in some conditions.
Fixed an issue where the Brute's Nova Colt could lose texture resolution at high speeds
A variety of backend server work has been done in preparation for future functionality.

Known Issues

Damage numbers from your turret may appear over reticule where not expected.

I haven't tried the new map yet, but I hope to later. I wonder if this means they're going to do major updates one class at a time, sort of how TF2 does them. That could be cool, but I guarantee there will be a zillion Infiltrators running around today.

[Lint of Death]

That's a sweet update, I'm just disappointed that the Infiltrator stuff is so pricey. The best 'deal' (both skins and all 3 weapons) is nearly $20 I think. The game's technically still a beta, and it's already costing so much to get what little premium-exclusive content there is.

Edit: I'm also wondering how those skins facilitate easy friend-or-foe identification, as the Infiltrator is already designed to confuse those systems somewhat.

[Acidpoptart]

I hope you are all still playing this! I am loving it. Name is Acidpoptart in game.

[Lint of Death]

I know I am!

[Reverant]

I am too.

Got to play Raindance yesterday! As a purist, I'm slightly disappointed. One thing we tend to forget about Tribes 1 is that the scale was extremely small. The view distance was very limited, and so everything was a lot closer together than in the following games. I think the scale of this Raindance is around 3x the original, meaning there's just a lot more empty space. Also, no rocket turrets! Come on...

Edit: My account name is chirz but my name in the game is Reverant. I'm not sure which you need to add someone as a friend. Anyone should feel free to hit me up in-game sometime!

[DoctorFinger]

The "Raid & Pillage" update goes live today adding 2 new skins and 3 new weapons for the Raider.

Major Highlights

Three new weapons and two new skins have been added to the Raider class.
Players may now setup Custom Servers from inside the game menu system. Custom servers are private “rooms” for you to rent and play Tribes: Ascend in. Custom servers can be password protected. The sever administrator can choose from scores of custom rulesets to help tailor the play experience as desired.
A new Capture and Hold map has been added to the Quick Play rotation (Night Drydock).
Several improvements to player movement in networked games have been implemented. This eliminates some of the “jerkiness” while moving within the game, especially when playing at high ping.


Weapon/Balance Items

Added 3 new weapons for the Raider class:
Plasma Gun: A flexible weapon, the Plasma Gun fires massive spheres of plasma that explode on contact, with excellent rate of fire.
NJ5-B SMG: The NJ5-B has a slower rate of fire than its predecessor, but deals more damage per hit. It can also fire while in scope.
Cluster Grenade: The cluster grenade breaks apart into several smaller bomblets on detonation, each exploding for additional damage.
Add two new skins to the Raider class (Griever and Mercenary).
Increased damage on the Infiltrator’s Prism Mines by roughly 14%.
Increased damage on the Brute’s Light Sticky Grenade by 10%.
Increased damage on the Doombringer’s Heavy Bolt Launcher by roughly 7%.
Increased Technician’s Sparrow Pistol clip size by 2, adjusted starting ammo to 144.
Call-ins will no longer fully reset when being moved too quickly or hitting an invalid target location. Instead they will lose build-up time.


Custom Server Notes

Read the Custom Server FAQ.
All players may create their own custom servers under PLAY NOW | CUSTOM SERVERS | MANAGE SERVERS on the main menu.
In order to activate a custom server, you must ADD RENTAL TIME using gold. You can add additional time in 10-Day, 30-Day and 90-Day buckets.
All Custom Servers are assigned to a specific server region. You may change the assigned region at any time through the Custom Server configuration menus. The Custom Servers use the same pooled/virtual server infrastructure that is used for Quick Matches. So when a match is spun up on your Custom Server, it is done so from the shared pool of server resources available in the specific server region you chose upon server setup.
As the owner of a custom server, you may always administer your server. You may also set an ADMIN PASSWORD that other users can use to gain access to some (but not all) administrative features of your custom server.
XP and Badge Rewards
Players earn their normal Base XP on non-password protected servers.
Bonus XP is only awarded on Custom Servers when at least 6 players have been on the server at some point during a match.
No XP is awarded on custom servers that require a password.
Badges, Statistics and First Win of the Day are disabled on Custom Servers (so you do not earn progress toward badges while playing on Custom Servers).


Additional Items

Match-making and backfilling logic has been improved to make it easier to get into matches with your friends (additional improvements planned for future releases).
An issue where weapons could dry-fire if fired immediately after switching has been fixed.
Perks are visually represented as implant chips within the main menu.
Fixed an issue where players could sometimes appear to be jetpacking after a death.
Fixed an issue where the Infiltrator’s Jackal would not perform an inactive reload if all of the rounds had been detonated and if the player switched weapons before the reload completed.
Fixed an issue where the first-person weapon and body and mesh could jolt and pop while jetpacking.
Fixed issues with the Determination perk not working properly.
Fixed an issue where mines were being activated by friendlies in custom servers with friendly fire enabled.
Fixed an issue where the Brute's Nova Colt and Sentinel's Nova Blaster could fire an extra shot if the clip was emptied rapidly.
Reworked a bit of the spawn point rotation logic by fixing an issue where players would not respawn at certain spawn points.
Fixed an issue where the announcer voices would sometimes abruptly cut out.
Reworked spawn locations for Capture and Hold maps so that base-owned spawn locations are slightly further away from the captured base.
The flagstand on CTF Temple Ruins has been moved back to its original position.
Vehicles will now have proper marker coloring if a friend is in the vehicle.
Fixed an issue where throwing a grenade and then meleeing (or vice versa) would cause you to throw an extra grenade or melee again.
Fixed an issue where mines were able to be pushed around by vehicles, this was visual-only and had no affect on gameplay.
Fixed an issue where player deployables weren’t able to be properly placed in certain situations, resulting in ammo consumption when it wasn’t deployed.
Resolved an issue on Sunstar where players could get outside the map boundary.

The servers will be down for a few hours while the update is pushed.

[Reverant]

Plasma gun, eh? Almost forgot about that one. That's real staple of the original games.

These constant updates for new guns makes me wish I could refund my gold. I honestly hadn't expected to see all these new weapons drop when I used it all up in the beta. I'm not sure if they added that firing range mode that lets you test weapons yet, but I certainly didn't have it back then. I had to blow real money to find out how those weapons operated.

The more I think about it, the more it irritates me. I'm a good player, and I have VIP and the exp boost, but it still takes a lot of playing to unlock a single weapon. I feel like unlocking weapons is like paying for talent points in an MMO, and instead of respeccing you pay more money to unlock the talents you wanted.